5 October
2013
3 October
2013
Quod Erat Demonstratum
3 October
2013
Living longer? :-)
Yesterday, our corporate head of HR – a dear friend, colleague and peer of mine, traveled with me to DC to address my organization there.
She is a great speaker and was eloquently explaining our new healthcare options and the challenges companies like ours face with rising healthcare costs.
Some of the analytics she cited were very insightful. One rather innocuous one she told us was “married people live longer”. Driven by unbounded curiosity, I had to ask what I thought was a very challenging and certainly entirely relevant question: “do they live longer or does it just seem that way to them” 🙂 Then I dutifully sat down expecting an equally insightful answer 🙂
Let’s just say I am glad she tolerates my terrible sense of humor 🙂
She did get back at me during drinks that evening. But I am not going to tell you about that! This is my blog. Let her write about it in her blog 🙂
2 October
2013
Puzzle: Assorted socks
Flying back from DC. Puzzle time. I am switching back to logical/math puzzles since the word puzzles were not much popular last time.
As always, send me personal messages on FB. Do not write your answer on the comment section to give others a chance to try the problem.
In a basket, there are 8 pairs (16) of black socks, 7 pairs (14) of white socks, 6 pairs of red socks, 5 pairs of blue socks, 4 pairs of green socks, 3 pairs of yellow socks, 2 pairs of purple socks and 1 pair of pink socks.
Assume that there is no difference between a right sock and a left sock.
If you are blindfolded, how many MINIMUM number of socks do you have to pick to guarantee 3 pairs (six) of socks that are of the same color (any color will do)?
29 September
2013
Sunday run
28 September
2013
Chance Meeting…
Beautiful day in Atlanta. The sun and the clouds are constantly playing peek-a-boo with each other and a light breeze is blowing. Dropped the daughter at Chattahoochee High School for a debate program and went for a run. 5K into the run, I had a vague recollection that there was this guy that I have talked to a few times after moving to ATL but never met – who I thought had told me he lived near that High school.
Fished out the phone, got his contacts from old phone records and called him. Guess what? Six years after moving to Atlanta, we saw each other for the first time and ran another 5K. Grabbed our Starbucks – which was overcrowded outside since it is a gorgeous day – and sat on the sidewalk under a tree and chatted just like we would have back in India.
Found out we have many many connections from my last three jobs. Best part – we graduated in the same year from two different colleges literally across from each other in Chennai. For all you know we had tea together in those tea stalls between the campuses. Maybe this was not the first time we had coffee sitting on the sidewalk under the trees!!!
25 September
2013
Puzzles. Take my “word” for it.
There is no travel for me this week after fourteen straight weeks on the road. So, far 🙂
So, instead of math and logic puzzles, this time it is about English words, as specifically requested by Sara.
Without Googling or looking up the internet try these…
1. As we all know “ballpark estimate” means a rough guess at the actual number. What is the origin of this phrase?
2. Many times you have seen (but I am sure not used 🙂 ) phrases like !@#$%^& to replace actual vulgar words. What is the English word for those string of characters? (I believe the same word also signifies the string of pictures that denote a comic strip character spouting profanities)
3. Finally, “education” is a word that has all the five vowels. (Friends from UK and India will also point to “favourite” and “dialogue”). Can you come up with a word that has all the five vowels – each only once and in exactly that sequence – a,e,i,o,u? (“education” does not qualify since the sequence is e,u,a,i,o)
Sara, next time you have to post some more puzzles or give them to me, I will publish in my blog with due credits to you.
24 September
2013
Flashlight!
23 September
2013
Monday morning running humor
22 September
2013
Another great turnout
Another great turnout from Chalupa running group. 20 folks showed up. Which is commendable since many participated in the Vibha race yesterday.
Hats off to the new leaders of the group – Malobika, Sudakshina and Samaresh for successfully roping Debjyoti in. Last time he showed up was over four years back!!
There is a certain Jasmine that has been threatening to show up for quite a few weeks… Ahem… 🙂
